Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Melaka has a small town feel to it, even though it's probably in the top 5 Malaysian cities in terms of size. 3 days was plenty to see everything there - not that I did, mind: I sadly didn't make it to the zoo, or "Mini Malaysia", or the Crocodile Park. Maybe next time...

I had the realities of globalisation smack me in the face on the bus from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur (KL) when I saw a Tesco supermarket ("now with KFC!") looking just like in Britain, not to mention one of those prefab McDonalds.

Arriving in KL is one of those experiences you never know quite how to handle. Try to imagine Victoria Coach Station (but busier) with hawkers selling chicken rice every 3 yards and you're nearly there. Obviously it also has to be blisteringly hot for the best effect. For the third time in a row, I managed to find my way to the hostel using the World's Worst Map (tm) - one of those horrible not-to-scale things with no indication of, well, anything!

Having arrived, it was easy to see that the YHA KL hostel is rather better equipped than its Melaka equivalent. It has a TV room, a kitchen, dining area and showers that are more than hosepipes sticking through the wall. The bathroom is still pretty disgusting though. Apparently Malaysian people have a habit of "washing" the bathroom with copious amounts of water, which leaves everything wet. This is not as bad as the Chinese, who, on seeing a real toilet (as opposed to those squat things) get somewhat confused and squat on the toilet seat.

I was sharing my room with a couple of Indians, who (in contrast to me) found Malaysia "wery costly" due to the exchange rate with the rupee. They were trying to sell some crafts that their company in Delhi makes; picture frames and so on. I bought a couple to stop them moaning...

On Tuesday evening I'd arranged to go out with some people from Bootsnall who live in KL, Angeline and Letiticia (from Brazil) and a friend Nicholas. We went to a food court where there are stands of all sorts of different foods, Chinese and Indian. Going out with locals was a bit better than trying things on my own, as there's some assurances of what you're eating! There was also a sample of KL nightlife with a visit to Finnegans, the new Irish pub :-)

Wednesday was my touristy day, most of which was spent in "KLCC", the showpiece centre of the city, home to the Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest in the world for a year or so. The towers themselves are mainly office space, but at the bottom is a large shopping mall and a concert hall. Going up the towers involves getting a free ticket from a well hidden stall in the mall and then watching one of those videos they rerun on Discovery channel during the day. "Did you know that each tower weighs 300,000 tonnes? ... Malaysia is such a great country. ... Sponsored by Petronas!" Cynicism aside, the view from the Skybridge halfway up is pretty good, although as I didn't recognise the landscape I was probably missing out on something.

I discovered that there's really very little to see in KL. I took a wander in Chinatown and its market, and nearly bought a fake England rugby shirt in readiness for visiting Australia, but that's really it. KL seems to be a combination of cities: it's light rail is a rip-off of Singapore, it's streets resemble Bangkok and its people are a mixture of Indians, Chinese, Malays and others.

Being a little bored in the evening, I went back to KLCC to find something to eat (there are lots of restaurants/cafés near the towers, and lots of people congregate there) and got chatting to a young guy who's a student. Like everyone else I've met in Malysia, he asked me what my ambition is, and like everyone else, he looked a bit confused when I said I didn't really have one... He shared another Malaysian food experience with me, a cheap restaurant called "Mama Paul's" or similar where a lot of people eat. Dinner for him and me came to RM 15: about £1.60.

Singapore, Singapore

"Southbound again... across the rolling river Tyne..."

Travelling in KL is hectic at the moment due to Chinese New Year, when everyone seems to go back to their hometown. I'd booked a bus ticket when I arrived on Tuesday for the princely sum of RM 28, and this is for a 6 hour bus journey back to Singapore. Unfortunately, I overslept on Thursday morning (my sleeping seems to be a few hours at night and a few in the afternoon; unfortunately my room-mates are members of India's National Snoring Team so the night sleeping didn't happen) and rushed to get to the bus station. One slight hitch was that I couldn't remember where the station actually was. I made a guess that it was next to the rail station, so caught the LRT there, only to be told that the bus station was half an hour away! It was clear that I'd missed the bus, but fortunately there was a train leaving for Singapore 10 minutes later - one of only 2 in the day. I went to get a ticket, only to find myself 2 ringgit short of the RM 34 fare.

"Can I pay by Visa?"

"Only for first-class ticket sir, is RM 68."

"68? Hmm... [68 ringgit is £10.50] yes, alright then!"

So it came to pass that I spent 7 hours on a train with nothing to eat but a packet of chicken flavour Nik Naks (they'd run out of sandwiches, you see). When we finally arrived in Singapore at 19:30 it was dark and I was hungry! I cancelled my idea to go to Chinatown to see in the New Year and head straight for the airport. I knew where I was, and knew where I wanted to go (it was near where I stayed last week), but somehow it took me nearly an hour to find an MRT station, walking with my pack on my back. Needless to say, I was somewhat tired and headed straight for the food court at the airport. Continuing past a boarded up Burger Kind that said "opening soon" (how soon? Should I come back in 10 minutes?) I managed to get some dinner at the food court.

And that brings me up to now, sitting in the departure lounge with 7 1/2 hours until my flight to Perth, and first visit to the Southern Hemisphere...